"Imagine the following situation: a collection of computer users draw up a wishlist of software they'd really like to see developed. These end users then begin to donate money to projects that they'd individually like to see appear. A programmer then goes about creating an item from the list that has donations attached to it. Once the project is complete and enough money has been raised, the author can collect the cash and release the software. Finished code is withheld until enough money has been donated. It's worked for other operating systems, but can it work for RISC OS?"

That's half of it, but whilst tendering works at the developer end, code ransom works at the user end as well.

In other words, it's the comminity of users who choose which projects get the most money, through individuals each donating small amounts.

This is different from your average tender, where it's just one organisatoin with all of the money offering it up to potential developers. Moreover the tender model simply may not be viable in a small or FOSS market.